The case of a former Hoffman Estates police officer who fatally shot a resident while on duty may end up in the U.S. Supreme Court, lawyers for both sides said Wednesday.
Though the high court chooses to hear only 100 to 175 cases a year out of 6,000 to 7,000 petitions, the case involving former Officer Marylu Redmond stands out because federal courts disagree about its key issue: whether a defendant’s conversations with a social worker are privileged.
“This case involves a conflict of positions among the various federal circuits, and those are usually the cases the court takes,” said Ron Futterman, who represents the family of the village resident, Ricky Allen, and is preparing a petition to the Supreme Court.
The shooting occurred on June 27, 1991, after Redmond responded to a disturbance at the Canyon Estates apartment complex in Hoffman Estates.
Allen was shot once in the neck by Redmond, but the Cook County state’s attorney’s office ruled the shooting was justifiable because Allen was allegedly threatening another man with a knife at the time.
In a civil suit filed against Redmond and the village, a jury awarded $575,000 to Allen’s family, saying the officer had used excessive force. But the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals overturned that jury’s decision in April and sent the case back to U.S. District Court for a new trial.
The reversal centered on U.S. District Judge Milton Shadur’s order that Redmond produce notes and details of 50 to 75 counseling sessions she had after the shooting with village social worker Karen Beyer, who is no longer employed by the village.
Redmond refused to authorize release of the notes and repeatedly said she did not recall what was discussed in the counseling sessions.
That prompted Shadur to tell the jury they could assume the documents contained information unfavorable to the village and Redmond.
Saying the judge had given inappropriate instructions, the 7th Circuit ruled that the counseling sessions were privileged.
“The 7th Circuit, for the first time, recognized a privilege for communication between therapists and persons who consult with them and extended it in this case to a social worker,” Futterman said.
At least two federal circuits have declared talks between psychotherapists and their patients to be privileged, while four other federal circuits have declined to even go that far, Futterman said.
When the 7th Circuit refused to re-hear the case last month, Futterman began planning his petition to the Supreme Court.
Richard Williams, corporation counsel for Hoffman Estates, said Illinois and other states have laws applying privilege to conversations with certified social workers, and it’s about time the federal courts follow suit.
“People today have more information, more medical information on psychological trauma,” Williams said.
“If we can’t give counseling to people involved in stressful situations, like police officers involved in shootings, then they hold it within and have serious psychological problems.”
Williams added that the disagreement among the federal circuit courts “moves it up for consideration” by the Supreme Court.
The high court is to announce in October whether it will hear the case.
Williams and Futterman said the federal district court is unlikely to re-hear the case until the Supreme Court makes its decision.
